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Budget for All Receives National Attention

3/29/12

The Nation (Editorial)
In this election season, progressives must highlight the stark differences between Ryan’s budget and the alternatives offered by the CPC and Harkin. We must not merely reject the false promises and cruel calculations of Romney/Ryan austerity.

NBC
That's because the 75-member Progressive Democratic Caucus has released its budget proposal for the 2013 fiscal year under the leadership of budget task force chair Mike Honda of Silicon Valley. Entitled "Budget for All," the document calls for more taxes from the wealthy, a massive jobs program for the unemployed, downsizing of America's commitments abroad, and protection of Medicare.

San Jose Mercury News Then there's the Ryan plan's photo negative: the "Budget for All" plan unveiled Wednesday by the Congressional Progressive Caucus and its budget task-force chairman, Rep. Mike Honda, D-Campbell. "Ryan's bill sort of grips everybody around the neck -- he's going for the jugular," Honda said. "Only the upper 1 or 2 percent and oil companies, those who've enjoyed the benefits of Republican leadership, will continue to do so. "We, on the other hand, are trying to keep our finger on the pulse."

The Nation
So how about a budget for all Americans? That's what the Congressional Progressive Caucus is proposing. And members of the US House will, in a series of votes expected to take place late Wednesday and Thursday, have an opportunity to offer their views not just on the Obama budget and Ryan's budget but also on the CPC's "Budget for All." These votes won't end with the adoption of a budget. They are largely symbolic. But they do offer an opportunity for members of Congress to signal the direction in which they would like to see the country move.

Think Progress
Unlike the House Republican budget, the progressive caucus’ budget does not gut important safety net programs like food stamps or Pell Grants. It also shows that a fiscally responsible budget can be crafted that still maintains a focus on job creation and economic stimulus in the short-term. This is a serious effort to grapple with the economic troubles that the country is facing, and should receive treatment as serious as that given to Ryan’s budget, over which much ink has been spilled in the last week.

Bipartisan Policy Center
The CPC budget is entitled the Budget for All, and represents the ideas of a progressive Democratic coalition in the House of Representatives. The release follows President Obama’s budget submission and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s The Path to Prosperity, which has passed through his committee. All three plans would stabilize the debt over the ten-year budget window (albeit at different levels), but they offer starkly different visions for federal taxing and spending policy. There are substantial ideological divides among the plans over the proper role for the federal government in society.

OMB Watch
The fiscal year (FY) 2013 budgets proposed by the House Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Chair of the House Budget Committee, are perfect examples of the fact that budgets are about choices. The revenue proposals in each serve as a study of opposites. Where the Ryan budget would double down on the Bush tax cuts and provide huge windfalls to the country’s wealthiest, the CPC’s proposal – The Budget for All – would ask those with the most wealth to help fund important investments in our public structures.